Maximilian Nicu (born 25 November 1982) is a former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. He spent most of his career in Germany, apart from two short spells in Romania and Cyprus. Born in Germany, he played for the Romania national team internationally, making three appearances in 2009.

Club career

Hertha BSC

Nicu made his first appearance with

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC () or Hertha Berlin, is a German professional football club based in Berlin. Hertha BSC plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football league system, German footbal ...

on 31 July 2008 in the

2008–09 UEFA Cup The 2008–09 UEFA Cup was the 38th season of the UEFA Europa League, UEFA Cup association football, football tournament. The 2009 UEFA Cup Final, final was played at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, home ground of Fenerbahçe S.K. (football), F ...

first qualifying round second leg against

FC Nistru Otaci FC Nistru Otaci was a Moldovan football club based in Otaci, Moldova. The club was founded on 17 August 1953. It was dissolved in 2017. History During the 1999–2000 season, the club played as FC Nistru-Unisport Otaci due to Nistru being expell ...

. He made his

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

debut on 17 August 2008 in Hertha's opening fixture against

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

. Nicu came on in the 71st minute as a substitute, replacing

Patrick Ebert Patrick Ebert (born 17 March 1987) is a German former professional footballer who played as a winger. Playing career Hertha Born in Potsdam, East Germany, Ebert started playing football for TuS Gaarden in Kiel at the age of four. He completed h ...

. After two seasons with Hertha, the club chose not to renew Nicu's contract following their relegation to the 2. Bundesliga.

SC Freiburg

On 1 July 2010, Nicu signed for

SC Freiburg Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg (), is a Football in Germany, German professional football club, based in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg. It plays in the Bundesliga, having been promoted as champions ...

1860 Munich

On 31 January 2012, Nicu signed for 2. Bundesliga side

1860 Munich , commonly known as TSV 1860 München (; ''sechzig'' locally ; lettered as ) or 1860 Munich, is a sports club based in Munich. The club's football team plays in the 3. Liga, the third tier of the German football pyramid. Their current home gr ...

Universitatea Cluj

On 14 January 2014 he signed a contract with Universitatea Cluj making it the first Romanian club in his career.

Aris Limassol

In July 2014, Nicu signed a one-year contract with

Cypriot Second Division The Cypriot Second Division () is the second highest association football, football division of the Cypriot football league system. Administered by the Cyprus Football Association, it is contested by 16 teams, with the top three teams being Prom ...

club

Aris Limassol Aris Limassol (Greek: ''Άρης Λεμεσού'') is a professional Cypriot football club based in Limassol and one of the founder members of Cyprus Football Association. The club's colours are green, black and white, and their home is the A ...

SV Elversberg

In January 2015, after a year abroad, he returned to his native Germany and signed for fourth tier

Regionalliga Südwest The Regionalliga Südwest ('Regional League Southwest') is the fourth tier of the German football league system in the states of Hesse, Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. It is one of five leagues at this level, together with t ...

side

SV Elversberg SpVgg 07 Elversberg is a Football in Germany, German association football club, located in Spiesen-Elversberg, Saarland. The club plays in the 2. Bundesliga from the 2023–24 2. Bundesliga, 2023–24 season following promotion from the 3. Liga ...

until 2016.

SpVgg Unterhaching

In August 2015, Nicu joined

SpVgg Unterhaching Spielvereinigung Unterhaching () is a German sports club in Unterhaching, a semi-rural municipality on the southern outskirts of the Bavarian capital Munich. The club is widely known for playing in the first-division association football league ...

from Elversberg for a second stint at the club. In April 2018, Unterhaching announced Nicu would retire from professional football at the end of the 2017–18 season.

International career

Nicu elected to play for the country of his parents, rather than his country of birth. In 2009, he requested a Romanian passport. Nicu was called up for matches against Serbia and Austria. At first it appeared he would not be able to play, since he had not received his Romanian citizenship yet, but on 17 March it was announced that Nicu had been granted citizenship and would be permitted to play. On 20 March 2009, he pledged his vow to become a Romanian citizen. He made his debut for

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

on 1 April 2009 against

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

SpVgg Unterhaching * Regionalliga Süd: 2002–03 Individual * Regionalliga Süd top scorer: 2005–06 (16 goals)

References

External links

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Maximilian Nicu Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicu, Maximilian 1982 births Living people People from Rosenheim (district) Footballers from Upper Bavaria German people of Romanian descent Romanian men's footballers German men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Romania men's international footballers Romanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus SpVgg Unterhaching players FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt players SV Wehen Wiesbaden players SV Wacker Burghausen players Hertha BSC players SC Freiburg players TSV 1860 Munich players FC Universitatea Cluj players Aris Limassol FC players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Regionalliga players Liga I players Cypriot Second Division players 3. Liga players 21st-century German sportsmen 21st-century Romanian sportsmen